From the Week

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Monday

Well, yay. Wes woke up at 2am. It was just for a feed, but I could NOT get back to sleep afterwards. Our bedroom was super warm, so I tried to catch some shut eye in the guest bedroom, but it just wasn’t happening.

The good news is that Wes then woke up on the right side of the bed later that morning. We got the usual done then headed over to my hot yoga/spin place to pick up something.

It was snowing out, so no walk for us. Besides, we had the good fortune of having to wait for the person come to fix the water heater. And guess what? After I had to run outside and chase him down to not leave our house- he looked at the heater for all of .2 seconds before stating that he needed to order a part and he would be in touch tomorrow. UM GUY I can’t wait until tomorrow. Cold water in snowy weather is not ideal. Especially for more than 1 day. Insert all the rage.

Anyhoo- we had salsa chicken for dinner which turned out freaking delicious. Afterwards, I put on THREE layers and took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood in the dark. I HATE WINTER PEOPLE. Cold + dark + no hot water = SEND WINE AND DRY SHAMPOO AND WET ONES.

Tuesday

Ok, so maybe going ‘real’ showerless for a couple days is good for my sleep? Because I slept for 9 hours and 10 minutes without a single blip. Or so says my fitbit. I woke up feeling amazing! And to top it off, I had prepared a bowl of brownie batter overnight oats the night before, so breakfast was all ready and waiting for me. BA-BAM.

I ran out real quick to run some errands before the guy came to fix our hot water tank. Now for the bad news: the HVAC people didn’t come. Which means another day sans hot water. Don’t even get me started-it is the worst customer service EVER. RAAAAAAAAAGE.

To combat this evil (and my stink) I made a giant peanut butter cookie. I should mention I was wearing my oh-so-sexy mom uniform.

It was DELICIOUS. Wes had a nice long nap and we did some reading and lots of jumping in anticipation for Tyler to come home. You know, so we could all sulk together about our lack of hot water.

I made us a super easy and quick Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry for dinner. It was really good! I highly recommend it AND adding sriracha 🙂

I got the coolest package in the mail, too!

One of my friends asked me to be her bridesmaid! Amy is one of my New York high school friends and we have been through A LOT together: matching tattoos, an apartment in Boston, boyfriends (yeah, we may have dated some of the same people. whoops), and lots and lots of drunk stories…which are the best kind. She still lives in the town where my parents live and her wedding will be in that area next October! Bonus: she already sent me a pic of our bridesmaid dresses and they are THEBOMB.COM. I can’t wait!

Wednesday

The day started off with some blood work. Ewww. It was just for my annual physical, but it had to be fasting, which made me a hangry lady at the lab. Thank goodness it was done quickly, so I was able to get home and have a shake for breakfast. Note: it was 7:30AM. WHO AM I THAT 7:30 IS LATE FOR BREAKFAST???? Ahh.

Wes was great the whole day- his afternoon nap even lasted 2 hours! Tyler and I were a bit grumpier because of some hiccups with getting our hot water tank repaired. The customer service was TERRIBLE and the tech was absolutely clueless on what to do (we even heard him on the phone with the tank manufacturer who was actually upset with him for not having any tools to properly diagnose the problem). Yikes.

Once the guy was gone and the tank was fixed (hooray, it only took him 3 visits!!!!) I took Wes for a nice long walk. It felt really good to get some fresh air and I was in even better spirits knowing that a HOT shower was in my near future.

Dinner was chicken and dumplings- my favorite dinner growing up. It was delicious.

I took the dogs for an evening walk- the double dose of fresh air felt unbelievably good, we bathed Wes, then I laid in the tub for as long as my body could take it. I might have even had a glass of wine too. Ok, well only a few sips because the hot water + wine made me a bit buzzy.

Thursday

It was a pretty great day! Wes slept in, I got my workout done…and I put on real people clothes! Gasp.

Only downside is that my hair dryer bit the dust. I think Tyler and I are having the worst luck with things ‘working’ for us.

After Wes woke up from yet another long nap (kid’s on a roll this week with tons of 90 minute naps!) we ran some errands, had lunch, and I did the ever important task of baking a DELICIOUS ginormous chocolate cookie.

I got some good smiles out of Wes throughout the afternoon. So nice, since we are pretty much stuck in the house! I really really HATE this cold weather.

I made spaghetti pie for dinner before meeting up with Susie to go to a local comedy club. It was a pretty good show, but not as vulgar as I was expecting (is that a good thing?!)

TGIF!!!!

Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

…From the Week

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Monday

So we think we’ve figured out why Wes was so grumpy- the kid is just like the dogs and likes to go OUTSIDE everyday. He was just having a nasty bout of cabin fever! After our usual morning routine and his nap (which lasted AN HOUR!) we bundled up and headed outside for a walk/run errands. He stayed awake the whole time and seemed to be so happy to look at all of his surroundings.

I was able to go to the bank, pick up some groceries and round out our walk to the library and get both Wes and I library cards! (Seriously, non parents friends- I know this is such a snooze fest, but I am beyond thrilled to bring up to 99 FREE books home for Wes at a time. Not 100…only 99 at a time. That’s what the library said.)

Since outdoors and activity seem to be a constant need for the wee one (at what point do they transition to wanting-to-do-nothing kids…college?) I waited a bit after Wes’s lunch to throw in the Happy Baby Workout DVD that was gifted to me (thanks Athena, Liz and Ashley!)

Good news: he only barfed twice! Thank goodness it wasn’t during the bench presses.

I was a sweaty mess after this workout- a 21 lb baby is quite the workout equipment. This tired him out enough for his second nap of the day.

Fast forward a bit, and we had stir fry for dinner, I walked the dogs and that’s the end of that.

Tuesday

Today’s objective was to keep Wes as busy as possible to alleviate any grump attitude. Our morning went by pretty smooth, so after the breakfast/play/workout/nap, we went over to the mall to pick up a few more fleece pjs for Wes. Size: 24 months. INSANE.

After we got back, we had lunch then walked over to the library to check out some books. I quickly grabbed a ‘Quick Picks for Baby’ bag and it wasn’t until I got home did I notice one of the things I checked out was a CD of lullaby renditions of Madonna songs. Day= MADE.

I put Wes in the jolly jumperoo and played the CD and entertainment was had by all.

For dinner, I had a salad that I put together the day before and let marinate in the fridge overnight. It consisted of shaved brussel sprouts, walnuts, mozzarella, raisins, apples and a homemade maple honey vinaigrette. YUM. We also had some cheese tortellini (but that was mostly for Tyler).

I took the pups for a nice long walk after dinner. Mostly to help my digestion. But I guess in a sense it was also to help the dog’s digestion as well. Aka: Layla does her major pooping on our walks.

Wednesday

Another pretty good day in the books! I did a pilates workout in the morning and even managed to do my hair/makeup while Wes took his nap! GASP. We then ventured out to the mall because there was a vest I wanted on sale.

I guess I wore a vest to go out and buy a vest.

It was a successful trip and I wanted to get more steps in, so we kept walking the mall for a while. Wes told me when he was done browsing, so we beelined to the nearest exit and got outta there.

Mr. was HUN-GRAY! He ate with a wide open mouth and was so happy to eat eat eat.

We played around for a bit and before I knew it, it was time for Wes to nap again. I’m trying to get as much as possible done around the house when he sleeps but sometimes I think I just need to nap too. If only I could fall asleep as fast!

To get more fresh air, we walked back over to the library to return yesterday’s books and pick up some more. We are really lucky to live so close to practically EVERYTHING. After I picked out about a dozen books, we left and I wound up walking around our neighborhood for an additional hour.

Dinner was turkey burgers and roasted potatoes.

Thursday

Ugh. I don’t even want to talk about it. Got a 3:30am wakeup courtesy of THE BABY. He didn’t go back to sleep until 5:30 and then still woke up at the usual 7:45. My whole day started out of whack, because I wound up eating breakfast at 5am and then when back to sleep when he did. I guess I can’t complain because I did get a cumulative 8 hours of sleep from the night, but those early morning hours are very headache inducing.

I didn’t get my workout done in the morning because mum SEE ABOVE. But it’s all good, I’m rolling with this *off* day. As close to tears as I was over the course of the day, I am super appreciative to have a happy and healthy baby so I’m just taking it all in stride.

I bundled us both up around 10am and walked over to the UPS store to pick up a package only to find the store was closed due to an emergency. WOMP. Trying to make the best of it, I walked around the neighborhood for another hour and Wes slept for most of the ride. Phew.

His second nap of the day wasn’t until 3pm at which point Tyler asked me if I wanted anything from the liquor store on his way home. My response? “ALL THE ALCOHOL”. My lunch consisted of some fruits, some veggies, some cheese, and a POT of coffee. Ay yay yay.

Again, not upset about this off day because I mean….CUTE MAN ALERT.

I ate leftovers for dinner, did my workout, then headed to bed. I am all about hitting the hay as soon as Wes does. I need sleep to function!

PRAISE JESUS THE WEEKEND IS ALMOST HERE!

How was your week?

…From the Week

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Monday

Woof did it feel like a busy day! After breakfast, I threw Wes in the jumperoo and attempted my workout. I’m an idiot and tried to do a high intensity workout after a big meal and felt like barfing the entire time. Wes fell asleep with 10 minutes left so I was able to quickly switch him to his crib and finish up few a few minutes to spare.

Then it was time to run errands! We went to Wal-Mart, West Coast Kids and Bed Bath & Beyond. SO EXCITING, I KNOW.

After lunch, Wes napped again (he has been on a 3-a-day nap kick lately and I totally love it) then I put him in the Ergo and walked Layla to the vet. It’s not dinner table appropriate, but the appointment was to express her *ahem* anal glands. Lovely.

When we got back, I spent a bunch of time picking out photos to get printed, then put Wes down again and made dinner. I haven’t had baked ziti since the days of sports team dinners and it was good!

I took the pups for a long evening walk, bathed Wes and painted my nails. Monday: ENDED.

Tuesday

UGH. Someone decided to get up at 5am. And then only went back to sleep if it was on my lap. I’m not complaining, but please send eye cream!

I got in my workout (HATE doing super intense workouts in the morning. barf) and Wes had a nap before we headed over to check out a potential day home and make a Costco run.

Only took 6 months for me to finally put this frame together..

I think Wes got out of the wrong side of the crib this morning because the boy did NOT want to go down for his afternoon nap….until 30 minutes later I put him on my lap and he was out like a light. I keep reminding myself to cherish these moments because he’ll be too big before I know it!

We went for a walk in the late afternoon to kill some time. Wes shook his wind chime the entire trip- much to the entertainment of all the high school kids walking home. I should have worn shorts and a t-shirt because it was HOT, and considering how hilly my route was, I was a sweaty mess.

DAD WIN: Successfully changing the batteries in the jumperoo while baby is actively jumping in said ‘roo.

We had chicken quesadillas for dinner, I walked the pups and Wes was in bed by 7:30. By 7:31, I was in the tub with EXTRA HOT water to relax. It lasted about 20 minutes since the water was so dang hot I was sweating my butt off.

Wednesday

I ended up getting 9 hours of sleep! Hooray! I started the morning off with Shakeology- I’m trying to limit myself to one shake a week because the stuff is so DANG expensive and the only closest alternative I’ve found is Vega and the taste is just not the same..even though it is good. I make mine with oats, pb, almond milk and ice. NOMS

After my workout, we headed to the children’s consignment store where I scored a great winter coat (from baby gap) and sunglasses. We then headed to the mall for a high chair toy and then some groceries. Wes LOVED his new toy. Wes did NOT LOVE pureed chicken. I don’t blame him- shit’s gross.

We played around for a bit afterwards. You guys, I think my milk intolerance is back. I had some Ben & Jerry’s and it did not agree with me in the slightest. Huge sad face. Guess I should make more cookies then.

I noticed Sportchek was having a big sale and there was a jacket I was sort of eyeing, so we walked over to check it out. As luck would have it, it fit AND it was 50% off AND I had an additional $30 off, so basically they should have paid me to take it off their hands.

We took a long walk afterwards before heading back home for some yummy turkey BLTs for dinner. I took the dogs for about a 1 1/2 mile jog (I hate that it’s getting dark out earlier!), bathed Wes and get him in bed. I passed out watching a PBS documentary on a nazi prisoner camp. How mood lifting, huh?

Thursday

12 hours of sleep from the baby! Yay! Oh, and he’s found his thumb- sucked on it to put himself to sleep twice throughout the night! Before he was up, I had breakfast and fed the doggies. Seems that Reggie was feeling extra cuddly and wouldn’t leave my side. (PS: He’s usually an asshole).

I was able to let my food settle a bit longer before my workout, so YAY another win for the day. Anyhoo- I am really trying to take advantage of this great weather and be outdoors with Wes as much as possible. Rather than taking the car, I opted to walk to the nearby shopping center to run our errands. I needed some groceries, Quest bars, and umm…ice cream. About what I said before with that whole dairy intolerance…screw it. I love B&J too much.

It was a quiet afternoon other than that. We ate, played, read books, napped. Scratch that- WES napped. I can’t nap during the day otherwise my sleep at night is screwed. At least for now.

I think he’s about 4 seconds away from sitting up on his own for more than, well..4 seconds.

The puppies got a nice long walk after our dinner of turkey and spaghetti squash. Then I took another bath because I WANTED TO.

So that’s our week. Pretty boring to read, but I enjoyed every second of it because I absolutely love being able to stay home with Wes. Also, being able to stay in pj’s 99% of the time.

Make any good dinners this week?

…From the Week

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Monday was our last full day home in New York. Ugh face. But hey, I got a whole month there! Not too shabby. We tried to make the most of the last day and took a family drive to the mall. SO EXCITING, HUH?!! Ha, well I had to return some things I bought for Wes (kid doesn’t fit in 18 month jeans! What the hellllllll) Afterwards, we drove to Grant Cottage only to find out it was closed. Womp. In case you’re wondering, Grant Cottage is the cottage where General Ulysses S. Grant died. See, those are the types of attractions near home. Thrilling.

We picked up my aunt for lunch at Panera and it was delicious. Half of me NEEDS one here in Calgary and the other half of me doesn’t want it because it would take all my money. Wes ate mangoes and flirted with the entire 70+ year-old population. Small baby boomer town = lots of places filled with gray hairs. Everywhere.

Oh, and I tried that limited edition pumpkin quest bar! I thought it was gonna be yucky but it was SO GOOD. I should probably buy a box. (no jen, no. you have no money.)

I packed. And I packed. And then there was more packing. It was a tight squeeze. I’m glad I won’t be flying for a while. PHEW.

Wes was in his carseat for a good part of the day, so I put him in the Ergo and went for a long walk. I would love it if somebody would strap me to them and walk around so I could nap. Could you even imagine?

The night ended with a weenie roast! It was on the small scale. Like, micro-mini.

Tuesday. Ahhhhh Tuesday. I am SO glad Tuesday is over. Let’s bullet point Tuesday, shall we?

2:45am wake up. Except my alarm wasn’t until 3:15. Can someone say anxious?
TSA lost my laptop. I had about 3592730293 bins to go through security (camera, laptop, stroller, car seat, breastmilk, toiletries, jacket, shoes, diaper bag, backpack…..) I had a minor anxiety attack before they finally recovered it.
The first flight was pretty uneventful. I got the row of three seats to myself, so it was easier to feed and change Wes.
RAN from arrival gate to departure gate of second flight. Made it just in time. Wes starts screaming profusely as I got to our seat so I started to feed him. No sooner did that happen, the flight attendant told me I needed to move seats to be on a side that had extra of those pig-nose bag thingies that drop from the ceiling in case of emergency (who cares what they’re really called). Cue MORE SCREAMING. And there was no changing table on the flight…I’m just going to end this bullet point because: RAGE.
I unpacked everything once we got home because I wanted to make sure there were no foods in my luggage that Reggie would get into. We went to run some errands and came back to find Reggie had gotten an ENTIRE box of Quest bars from the counter. 7 were among the wreckage (unharmed), 3 were recovered from various hiding spots and 2 are MIA. PLEASE NOTE: He buried one in the pillows of the guest bed and got so ferocious with his nose-burying, that his nose bled…..ALL OVER THE WHITE DUVET. Cue more rage.
Frozen breastmilk thawed en route and leaked all over my laptop. You know the end result because I’m typing from said laptop, so that’s good.

No pictures from Tuesday because: see above.

Wednesday

This was a total get-our-lives-back-in-order day. I was stressed x infinity about the number of things that needed to get done around the house- reorganizing Wes’s stuff, laundry, cleaning the dang house, groceries…….

Wes woke up nice and early, but I didn’t mind since I actually got in a good night’s sleep! I quickly got started on the eleven thousand shows that were recorded while I was gone, while Wes went through the usual eat/poop/lay/jump morning routine. We then went to the store to get some essential groceries. There was approximately ZERO perishable items in the house and one cannot survive on boxed goods alone.

PS: notice it’s the same jumperoo as the one I bought in NY? The kid is obsessed with it, so I had to find another one!

I set up Wes’s compact high chair and he got right to it and ate SO MUCH. High five for that thing.

And some stuff I won in a giveaway arrived! Yesssss

The weather was SO NICE that I put Wes in the stroller and walked to the bank to deposit some stuff, then continued on a nice long walk. It was hilly too, which felt good since all my walks back home were completely flat. By the time we got back home, I was drenched in sweat. LOVE.

I put together a dinner of turkey burgers and roasted veggies, then took the dogs for a walk and got in my workout. It was nice to have a little me time, but I did feel bad for putting Tyler right back to serious baby-duty (Ok no, I don’t feel bad).

Also: posted my extremely in-depth review on the latest pumpkin beers. If you missed it, you can read it here.

Thursday

In the morning, I did my pilates workout while Wes was in the jumperoo. As luck would have it, he fell asleep just as I finished so I put him in the stroller and went for a nice long walk. It felt really good to get some fresh air and quiet time.

I picked up some stuff at the grocery store for dinner..mind you, it took two trips because I forgot my wallet the first time. WOMP. And somehow this pint of gloriousness made its way into my cart..

Dinner was Crock Pot Sweet Potato and Quinoa Turkey Chili (I used beef instead since we had turkey the night before). I highly recommend it, it’s SO good!

Wes had a couple of friends during/after his own dinner.

Poor Wes, the stupid eczema is back on his neck and chest. This dry weather is taking its toll and I’ve been slathering him with CeraVe every two seconds.

So that’s this week in a rather long nutshell! Back to the same-old same-old routine at home!